the edge of logic and intuition

Strange isn’t it, we’re all after the latest iphone/ipad/other gadgets and yet ‘nostalgic’ or ‘retro’ photos somehow seem better than the ones created by state of the art digital cameras! I’ve given the steps below to create a nostalgic (say 70s style) photo from a normal one, using the picture ‘Michelle’ from GirlReporter used from Flickr via the Creative Commons license.

(Smaller images open out to a full size version)

→ view the rest of the post: A nostalgic retro image technique in GIMP (1)

I wrote in a previous post about installation of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx on an old PC for display to a TV which (other than a couple of known issues) worked OK. Given that I have a working 9.10 setup on my main home laptop (this laptop is used for all open university work, emails, etc so is my primary computer really) I didn’t change this immediately but I had the urge for shiny new stuff so now I’ve got a couple of nasty assignments out of the way and a day off work I decided to install lucid to my main laptop. (Unusually, taking a backup first – nothing is normally lost in the install process if you mount the home partition correctly and don’t format it, but just in case.) Unfortunately the “blank screen” / “won’t boot” bug got me.

→ view the rest of the post: Ubuntu blank screen on boot and other issues may put off new users

In this post and a couple of subsequent ones I’m looking at how to create frames using Inkscape and GIMP in order to produce vintage / retro and other effects on photos.

Below: creating a frame in Inkscape. This deals with deciding on dimensions, creating the frame and saving it in a suitable format for transparency.

→ view the rest of the post: Creating “instant photo” vintage and other frames in Inkscape

Having installed Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04 I was now ready to begin working with the OS and although it comes with some useful applications installed by default there’s quite a few things I normally add and change as part of the setup.

The roundup below shows working with the Software Center, Package Manager (Synaptic) and Update Manager and differences from 9.10.

→ view the rest of the post: Ubuntu 10.04 ‘Lucid Lynx’ features: Software installation (2)

As Ubuntu 10.04 ‘Lucid Lynx’ was released a couple of days ago I’ve downloaded it and done my first installation! (honestly, the things I’ll do to avoid working on an Open University assignment…) I already had 9.10 on that computer but decided to overwrite it with a fresh install – there’s an ‘Upgrade’ process available but having had a bad experience with this in the past (flaky internet connection from my ISP dropping halfway through and I had to do a clean install anyway) I’ve always installed from CD (or USB) since then and this also ensures I have a live CD to hand in case of someone asking about Ubuntu, needing to recover files from a Windows system, etc.

Anyway the first part of the installation process is as below – if you are coming to this page via a search then hopefully the below and subsequent posts will be useful.

→ view the rest of the post: Ubuntu 10.04 ‘Lucid Lynx’ installation (1)

In many programming languages we can choose to use either != or <> to test inequality and both are valid syntax.

Although – assuming they are valid for the language – both ‘mean’ the same thing in programming terms and will have the same effect in the code, conceptually I got to thinking they are different and the one we would choose signifies something about the way we conceive of equality and comparison in the abstract.

→ view the rest of the post: Conceptualising equality and inequality in code

I wrote on here a few months ago about the Fujifilm Instax Mini and how this is the only ‘mainstream’ instant camera on the market. No longer, as Polaroid (who of course used to be the main instant camera/film manufacturer back in the 80s and 90s – retro to me!) are launching the Polaroid 300 instant camera which was developed in partnership with Fujifilm and appears very similar to the Instax Mini (made by Fujifilm).

The CNET article (linked to above) mentions that

It’s unclear whether the Polaroid 300 will accept the same Instax Mini film used for the Fujifilm equivalent. But if you dive into the technical specifications, you’ll realize that both snappers have the same features.

but based on this I would infer that it’s likely that the films will be interchangeable (unless some sort of ‘key’ system or similar is used so they physically can’t be interchanged in the camera) which would be good news for us UK and US based instant film fans who struggle quite often to get hold of the films for the Instax (Mini) without paying ridiculous import prices etc.

At the time of writing it is around $90 USD (from the Polaroid site) and the film cartridge $10 for 10 prints making the film slightly cheaper than what I’ve managed to buy the Fuji films for, but the camera a little more expensive. (If this is the case then over time it works out cheaper of course assuming you take a decent number of pictures!)

Maybe it will remain niche/cult or perhaps instant photography is coming back (in which case it would be a good thing but it’s always a bit of a mixed feeling when something previously ‘cult’ suddenly becomes mainstream.. see also: No Doubt, emo, Linux) as retro and nostalgia always seems popular and people will pay for that!

I’ve been after a graphics tablet for a while and chose the Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch based on good reviews, previous good experience with a Wacom tablet (Volito 2) and assurance from the interwebs that this tablet can be used successfully under Ubuntu!

As a Linux user it is often the case that supplied driver CDs that come with hardware only support Windows and sometimes Mac, resulting in a little more ‘fiddling’ to get the device to work under Linux. I’ve now got the Pen and Touch working so it is possible – as some of the guides on the internet contradict each other and contain different steps I had some difficulty initially but following this method allowed me to install and use it successfully including pressure sensitivity with the pen, and the touch navigation.

If you have found this page through a search then you could try following the steps below and if there are any further problems check sources such as the Ubuntu forums.

→ view the rest of the post: Experimenting: Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch (CTH-460) on Ubuntu 9.10 (karmic)

This incident made me think about debugging more broadly.

A couple of weeks ago I was sent some knitting yarn as a gift. The person sending it mentioned that there’s instructions inside the package for making a basic scarf. As you can imagine even if you don’t knit, a scarf is one of the simplest things you can make and generally involves knitting a long strip of a uniform width until the scarf is long enough.

→ view the rest of the post: Signs I should stick to knitting rather than programming

I took some photos down at the South Kent coast (Dover) recently, on one of the few sunny days we’ve had so far this year. I’m not a great photographer and at the moment only have the camera on my phone (I’m after a new digital camera but can’t decide which one!) so am aware that the photos are nothing particularly special, but with the aid of Picasa and the GIMP managed to turn them into some vintage looking photos that I like the look of much better.

If you want to do something similar you can follow the steps below as a ‘tutorial’ – I haven’t gone into too much detail, just outlined the general sequence of steps.

→ view the rest of the post: Images: Using GIMP and Picasa to apply ‘vintage’ effects to photos